About Cal Skinner

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Cary Grade School Board President Scott Coffey offered this advice, which he posted as a comment under the Crystal Lake High School Board layoff article. It is worth giving a wider audience. There is a direct correlation between enrollment and … Continue reading →

There are four seats on Cary Grade School District 26 which are up for election in April. Only two people are on the ballot. Two others, however, have filed as write-in candidates. They are Leonard Kaxmer Ron Demkowicz Neither seems … Continue reading →

In a comment reply to Mark under this article: Cary Grade School Board Saves by Refinancing High Interest Bonds Cary Elementary School Board President Scott Coffey shares his Board’s strategy to save taxpayers money. You can read it below: The … Continue reading →

A press release from the Cary Elementary District 26 School Board: CARY DISTRICT 26 BOND REFUNDING RESULTS IN SAVINGS TO TAXPAYERS CARY, IL – The Board of Education of Cary School District 26 took steps this last month to reduce property … Continue reading →

The following comment from Cary School Board President Scott Coffey is too insightful not to share further than the comment section of McHenry County Blog: County Board Has No Control Over Spending by Any Other Tax District Cary Grade School … Continue reading →

The following was written by Cary Grade School Board President Scott Coffey: Thoughts on School Consolidation A new, consolidated district is NOT required to migrate to the highest wage rates of the legacy contracts of the combined districts. However, that … Continue reading →

Cary Elementary School District 26 Board President Scott Coffey wrote a comment under the effective tax rate story on Tuesday that I posted as an article on Thursday. Coffey tells how the school board cut costs in a comment, which … Continue reading →

The following was written by Cary Elementary School Board President Scott Coffey under the article about the high effective tax rates paid in McHenry County, compared to the rest of the Chicago Metropolitan Area: Regarding General State Aid for Chicago … Continue reading →

Below you can see what McHenry County school districts will be asking to extract from your checking or escrow accounts this year. You will note that all of them put together are requesting 1.23% more, although the rate of inflation … Continue reading →

In the “Here we go again” category is consolidation of schools. Just as with township consolidation, I ask, “Where’s the beef?” Show me the money that school consolidation would bring. Don’t just assert that consolidation of school will save money. … Continue reading →

Here are some 2013 McHenry County school statistics–average expenditure per pupil and per classroom, plus average teach salary–to ponder. They were calculated by a Friend of McHenry County Blog. I don’t think I have seen average spending per classroom for … Continue reading →

Since schools comprise the bulk of property tax dollars, I thought some might be interested in seeing how they changed from last year to this year. Although the percentage change column is labeled “% Change + of -” the first … Continue reading →

I drove around Cary today taking photos of signs. There seemed to be Hauck signs all over the place. It didn’t hit me that there were three with that last name running for office until I got to the intersection … Continue reading →

Late last week, the Northwest Herald praised Crystal Lake School District 155 and its four elementary school feeder districts for holding a meeting for a meeting for all grade and high school teachers. Nothing wrong with that. Articulation between the … Continue reading →

With the Chicago Tribune pumping for school consolidation in its editorial on education, I thought it was time to re-run the article I wrote almost four years ago when Governor Pat Quinn advanced the idea. The numbers will have changed … Continue reading →

The Northwest Herald reported Friday that Cary Elementary School District 26’s Board decided to take from the property taxpayers next year every dime allowed by the Property Tax Cap. That’s an increase of 1.5% over what was extracted this year. … Continue reading →

Last year McHenry County real estate taxpayers were billed $797,419,250.88. This year the McHenry County Clerk’s Office has determined that bills amounting to $809,385,180.76 will be issued. That’s a dollar increase of $11,965,930, a percentage increase of 1.5%. The Property … Continue reading →

Taken from a statement from the Cary Elementary School Board:. Considering House Speaker Mike Madigan is insistent on transferring teacher pension costs to local taxpayers and this is the last week of the legislative session before extraordinary majorities are required, … Continue reading →

I’ve been remiss on looking at school board election results…probably because I don’t know as much about them as about the races about which I written. Today I looked at McHenry Grade School District 15’s results and discovered that School … Continue reading →